6202.0 - Labour Force, Australia, Apr 2015 Quality Declaration 
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 07/05/2015   
   Page tools: Print Print Page Print all pages in this productPrint All
MEDIA RELEASE
7 May 2015
Embargo: 11.30 am (Canberra time)
57/2015

Australia's unemployment rate increased to 6.2 per cent in April 2015

Australia's estimated seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for April 2015 increased 0.1 percentage points to 6.2 per cent, compared with 6.1 per cent for March 2015. In trend terms, the unemployment rate decreased by less than 0.1 percentage points to 6.1 per cent, as announced by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) today.

The seasonally adjusted labour force participation rate remained steady at 64.8 per cent in April 2015.

The ABS reported the number of people employed decreased by 2,900 to 11,724,600 in April 2015 (seasonally adjusted). The decrease in employment was driven by decreases in full-time employment for males (down 47,900) and part-time employment for females (down 10,700). These were offset by increases in male part-time employment (up 29,700) and female full-time employment (up 26,000).

The ABS seasonally adjusted aggregate monthly hours worked series increased in April 2015, up 17.8 million hours (1.1 per cent) to 1,651.9 million hours.

The seasonally adjusted number of people unemployed increased by 7,000 to 769,500 in April 2015. This was driven by people who looked for part-time work only, which increased by 9,800 to 228,000.

Details are in the April 2015 issue of Labour Force, Australia (cat. no. 6202.0), as well as the upcoming April 2015 issue of Labour Force, Australia, Detailed (cat. no. 6291.0.55.001) due for release on May 14. These publications are available for free download (after release) from the ABS website - https://www.abs.gov.au.

Media note:
  • When reporting ABS data you must attribute the Australian Bureau of Statistics (or the ABS) as the source.
  • Media requests and interviews - contact the ABS Communications Section on 1300 175 070.
  • A new set of Labour Force spreadsheets and data cubes will be implemented with the May 2015 issue of Labour Force, Australia (cat. no. 6202.0) with these changes being reflected in the published pdf. For details, see page 6 of the pdf.